


A Night Off

by E_Bel



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Cross just wants a date night, Horror Dust and Killer are banished from the castle for being too loud, M/M, Nightmare is stressed, and Nightmare's addiction to caffeine, and for giving Nightmare stress, dinner and massages, good lord they give Nightmare stress, running an evil organisation is tough work, this is as close as he can get to it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-06-09 07:10:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15262128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/E_Bel/pseuds/E_Bel
Summary: Nightmare is stressed and overworked beyond belief and his boyfriend notices. Even the King of Negativity needs a night off once in a while.





	A Night Off

**Author's Note:**

> So, this one I had planned for Crightmoss Day but, once again, I didn't get my shit together in time. But I still wanted to post it, so here we go.

The piles of papers seemed endless. One wouldn't think there would be much paperwork involved when running a criminal organisation; sad to say, there was a lot more work and planning involved in criminal activity than one first thought of. Nightmare twitched as his hand cramped again, seventh time today for this particular hand. But he had no time to slow down. Some thought he learnt to be ambidextrous to be more dangerous, the truth was he learnt in order to actually be able to make it through his paperwork stack without sacrificing sleep. So he swapped hands and continued working.

A signature here, a short summary there. His eye socket was throbbing from how much he was reading, but he wasn't the kind of idiot who signed something without knowing and understanding everything written. His shoulders and back were so tense from the long hours of sitting that he was now hunched over, his tentacles had curled so much they were no longer able to straighten out. He heaved a sigh as he read over the next scrap of paper in his current pile; he needed something to help him get through this. A glass of water, or a couple painkillers, or-

He stopped his thought as a new and delicious smell wafted into his office. He almost perked up like a dog as his nose caught the scent. Or a cup of coffee, some coffee sounded really good. His back creaked in protest as he finally stood up from his desk. He ignored it and puttered out of his office. The smell was even clearer in the hallway, and Nightmare followed the scent like a bloodhound down to the kitchen. The castle was quiet, he supposed everyone else had gone to bed, and he moved towards the heavenly smell without interruptions. There was a faint light in the kitchen as he moved towards it, but he paid it no heed. He needed the coffee if he was going to make it through the night. Once he stepped into the kitchen, though, he stopped in surprise.

"What is this?" His voice cracked from the days of disuse, but the question was warranted. On the kitchen table was not only a mug of his desired beverage, but also two meals, steam still rising from the food, a small candle in the centre, and behind it all was standing Cross with the grin that means he knows he's in trouble and is trying to placate Nightmare.

"It's dinner. For us." Nightmare immediately began to move to just grab the cup and go, but Cross took a hold of his wrist. "Come on, how long has it been since you last ate? By our counting, it's been at least three days." His stomach immediately chimed in agreement, a loud grumble echoing in the air.

"Come on," Cross took a hold of his captive hand with both of his, a rare tender smile on his face. "The organisation won't fall to ruin if you take the night off." He would have protested further, but he was so tired, and the food smelled really good, so he let Cross lead him over to a seat and sat down. Cross sat on the other end of the small table, smile still on his face.

"Should I be worried about food poisoning?" Nightmare gave his dish an experimental poke. Cross was notoriously bad at cooking, only slightly better than Nightmare himself.

"Ha, ha. No, I didn't make it. Ordered it." With the assurance that he wasn't going to wind up bed-bound, Nightmare immediately attacked the food. His stomach practically sang in joy, eager for the food it had been denied. He glared over the table when he heard Cross chuckling at him, but didn't stop eating. He took big gulps of his coffee in-between bites and felt more alive than he had in days. It was almost a shame when it was over. When the last bite had been eaten and the last sip had been drunk, Nightmare moved to stand again, only to hiss in pain as his back gave another protest.

"Geeze, Nighty, you're all tensed up." Cross had finished his own meal at some point, Nightmare couldn't tell when, and got up to go to Nightmare's side. One of Cross' fingers prodded a knot in his shoulders and Nightmare hissed. He would have smacked Cross with a tentacle if he had been able to move them.

"Nighty, you shouldn't be so knotted up. Can I work some of those knots out, please?" Nightmare gave in almost immediately. His back was so tense he wouldn't be able to walk without help now, and the temptation of being pain-free for the first time in days was too strong. So he let Cross carry him back up the stairs, not to his office this time, but to his bedroom. Cross laid him on the bed, face into his pillows, and took up position upon his back. The first touch of hands upon his back made Nightmare tense even further, causing a pained groan to exit his mouth. But Cross had practice with this, and gentle hands kneaded along his ribcage and spine. Knowing that Nightmare stored his stress in his lower back, Cross started there and moved outwards. He uncurled the tightly wound tentacles one by one and massaged the shoulders until they were no longer hunched up around his neck. By the time most of the knots were worked out, Nightmare was barely conscious; the gentle, soothing rhythm slowly putting him to sleep. When Nightmare, at last, drifted off to sleep, purring contentedly, Cross climbed off and pulled up the covers over the sleeping skeleton.

"Sleep well, my prince." With a kiss on Nightmare's cheek, Cross departed the room, turning off the lights as he left.

* * *

(Elsewhere, far from the castle)

"How much longer until we can go home?" Killer whined as they sat in the theatre, watching the same Mettaton movie for the third time, that movie one of five playing at that theatre. Dust looked at his watch.

"Cross said we better not come back for  _ at least _ another six hours." All three of the skeletons groaned in unison, suffering.


End file.
